Welcome to my blog!


I am a lefty. I write vertically, cannot use can-openers and was recently foiled by a right handed ladle (I will have my vengeance...) but more than this, I generally seem to approach life from a different angle. I appreciate that this may have nothing to do with being a lefty and may just be my own dysfunctionallity, but after earning the nickname 'Lefty-Flip' after a frustrating game of Guitar Hero, it seemed an appropriate title for this blog.

Friday 27 April 2012

Music, writing, and why I can’t write music

I’ll start with the last item first – I cannot for the life of me write music.
Or lyrics. Or poetry come to think of it, but then I tend to think lyrics and poetry are one and the same so maybe that goes hand in hand.

Despite signing in a choir for some years now, I can barely read music (sorry James – and you have tried so hard to teach us!) I still have ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’ ‘D’… written in eyeliner on my keyboard when I’m note bashing at home and I will never understand how someone can create music in their mind (much less figure out how to write it down!)

Okay so I can’t write music but I use it a lot in my writing, in two different ways.

First up is what I listen to whilst actually writing. I quite like writing in silence, but silence is hard to come by, and there will often be background noise (and barking dogs!) that need to be muffled so this is where the classical music comes into my writing. I can’t listen to anything with lyrics or I will end up typing them out mid chapter! Either that or I find three songs have gone by where I have just been singing into my computer screen like a diva and not written a single word.
So ‘wordless’ music is the criteria. After than, anything goes! I could pretend I know what I’m talking about, but the truth is I tend to pick up cheap compilation albums mostly of piano music, and listen to them without realising who I’m even listening to!
I also listen to movie soundtracks, and have a soft spot for Thomas Newman. In fact this afternoon I have something of a sad scene to re-write so will be listening to the ‘Series of Unfortunate events’ soundtrack. Specifically track 28 ‘The Letter That Never Came’. Repeatedly. Till I’m done. (There will be chocolate on stand by when I’m finished!)

Secondly…hmm. I wondered whether to share this with the world as large, as now that I come to write it down, it occurs to me now that it might be a little…strange.
Ok I think this habit stems from the playlists I used to make. Back in the days when I busy with my afore mentioned notebooks I would also make music playlists (ok so back then it was old skool mix-tapes!) for certain books.
This then evolved into my own writing where I would often give character’s their own theme songs. Too many years later and I have somehow reached a point where I have written (almost) an entire novel based on one single song.
The song didn’t come first, I only discovered it about four years ago, but it instantly became my main character’s theme song and then slowly altered the tone of the entire novel during each re-write!
And the weirdest part is that I was fairly unaware of the extent of this influence until I realised I had temporarily named a chapter after the title of the song; Silent Lucidity

 
Silent Lucidity Queensryche
 
Yes that’s right we’ve gone from Mozart to metal!

 
Enjoy!


PS A side note into how crazy this post is – I suddenly thought as I put the link to the song up ‘oh no, now people will know how the book ends!’ Ha ha ha!
Welcome to my mind!

Friday 20 April 2012

One for the ''Grammar'' Police

Thought I’d bring a little fun this Friday! It has been pointed out recently that I am somewhat pedantic when it comes to grammar… And not even the mighty Take That are above scrutiny – I shake my head every time I hear The Flood… There was more of them than us …There were Gary!!! There were!!!!!
Hell’s bells.

Where was I? Oh yes – a bit of fun! There are oodles of blogs and websites out there ridiculing the apostrophically challenged and spelling–inept, but this week I stumbled upon something new, something I’d actually never given much thought to before; The inappropriate use of quotation marks.

As in…



Mmmm… it’s ‘sushi…’ sounds ‘delicious’


This one had me laughing out loud at my desk, not just for the quotation marks but the final line…


Police do be out!!!!!!  Yes they do!


This one might not belong on the blog as I fail to see the misuse…


Indeed.


And finally, one so baffling I don’t even know where to begin! I just know I want one of these on my wall!


These all come courtesy of the ''Blog'' of ''Unnecessary'' Quotation marks by Bethany Keeley. I urge you all to go take a peek for yourselves, as the blog comments are as entertaining as the pictures!


Thanks for the laughs this week Bethany!!!!

Friday 13 April 2012

I was a Teenage Book Thief

Okay let’s clarify that before I have the police knocking on my door. I didn’t actually steal any books. Nor do I have any unreturned library books collecting dust and fines alike (I hope?) 

But I did steal words.

I never had a diary, but what I did have was a notebook (or several) that I would fill with favourite lines from books, songs, and what appears to be several quotes from Buffy The Vampire Slayer (hey, she had some good advice!)
As I got older the lyrics and Buffy quotes were dropped and more and more pages from books found their way into my notebooks.

Whilst unpacking (yet more boxes!) I re-discovered some of these books, and thought I’d share some of the things I considered important enough to copy out for myself.


 
Wolf Brother - Michelle Paver
‘We…we could be friends, you know’ said Coraline
‘We could be rare specimens of an exotic breed of African dancing elephant’ said the cat ‘but we’re not. At least’ it added cattily, after darting a look at Coraline, ‘I’m not.’

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

'Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare… What did professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp– ’
‘So light a fire!’ Harry choked
‘Yes of course – but there’s no wood! Hermione cried wringing her hands.
‘HAVE YOU GONE MAD? Ron bellowed ‘ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?’

The Philosophers Stone – JK Rowling

‘If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.’

The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket

‘The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. Trisha Mcfarland discovered this when she was nine years old. Lost in the woods.’

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King


‘Not all those who wander are lost’

Lord of The Rings - JRR Tolkein

‘It didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn’t heard us calling, still do not hear us…calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time…and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.’

The Virgin Suicides – Jeffry Eugenides


‘There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve foot mountain Troll is one of them’

The Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling


‘…that’s what Hermione does,’ said Ron shrugging ‘When in doubt, go to the library’

The Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling

I haven’t added to this book in about eight years or so, but the impulse to carry words with me hasn’t gone away. No, I’ve just discovered a different art form, that’s all…




Have a good weekend folks!

Thursday 5 April 2012

Best laid plans...

I had such good intentions of blogging this week.

I had good intentions for many things, including saving my Easter egg for the weekend at least…

The egg was demolished three days ago, along with any other plans for an organised and productive week!
Once again chaos rules over my life, but it is the chaos that pays my bills so I will try not to complain too much.

Looking forward to a very long, and hopefully much calmer weekend, in which my only plans are this

-         To finish reading Garth Nix’s Lord Sunday
-         To catch up on half a series worth of America’s Next Top Model (Hey don’t judge me till you’ve watched it yourself!)
-         To watch as much Big Bang Theory as E4 will provide
-         To write. Lots. Into the wee hours of the morning by torchlight.
-         Oh, and also tattoo number 6 is booked in for tomorrow afternoon… seeing as it’s my first literary tattoo it might make an appearance on here sometime next week…

Well that is it for now, have a lovely Easter everyone!



Laura